Sustainable Product: Personal Protective Equipment Manufactured with Green Plastic

Abstract

This study analyzed the case of manufacturing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) using as raw material biopolymers produced from ethanol from sugar cane, known as green polypropylene, produced since 2008 by BRASKEM. This article studied the PPE for the employee’s head protection, named helmet by NR 6, which is used in situations of exposure to weather and work scenarios in places where there is risk of impact from falling or projecting objects, burns, electric shock, and solar radiation. The MSA, green helmet manufacturer, made an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by comparing the two manufacturing processes of the helmet shell, covering the January 1 to December 31, 2011 period. It concluded that the sustainable helmet (green polyethylene and pigments) robs 231g of CO₂ from the atmosphere per produced unit, while the helmet’s production with traditional raw materials (polyethylene and petrochemical pigments) found that, for each unit produced, 1029g of CO₂ are emitted into the atmosphere. The study showed that substitution of raw materials has led to reduction in the impact generated in the helmets’ production.